Former minister Satyendar Jain, currently in jail, urged the Delhi High Court on Thursday to grant him “default bail” in a money laundering case, arguing that the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation against him is incomplete.
Jain’s counsel asserted that the trial court took cognizance of the charge sheet based on incomplete material, making the cognizance invalid under the law.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri has scheduled the hearing for October 9 to listen to the arguments from both parties. The court also allowed Jain’s lawyer to submit brief written statements in support of his claims.
During the short hearing, the ED’s counsel pointed out that a different bench of the high court had recently dismissed similar pleas by co-accused Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, who also sought default bail on the grounds of an incomplete investigation. The court ruled that the trial court rightly concluded that the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) against Ankush and Vaibhav Jain contained all necessary elements for the commission of the offense.
However, Jain’s counsel argued that, while the investigation against the other accused may be complete, the probe related to Satyendar Jain was not finished. “The cognizance was taken by the trial court on the charge sheet based on incomplete material, so it is no cognizance in the eyes of law,” Jain’s lawyer argued. It was also noted that Jain’s regular bail plea is still pending in the trial court.
Jain is accused of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him. He has challenged the trial court’s decision of May 15, which denied him default bail. In response to his petition, the high court issued a notice on May 28, seeking the ED’s response.
Jain contended that the ED did not complete its investigation within the statutory period, and the incomplete charge sheet was filed only to deprive him of his right to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Jain was arrested by the ED on May 30, 2022, in connection with a money laundering case stemming from a CBI FIR filed in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He had previously been granted regular bail by a trial court on September 6, 2019, in the CBI case. Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain were arrested by the ED on June 30, 2022, as part of the same investigation.
